What is a Sabbatical For?
Sabbatical. Sometimes it's hard not to feel guilty that I get one. It feels bad right until I remember how badly I needed a break. But then I flip back, remembering that others do not get to do this, for the most part. So its a conflicted thing.
But perhaps the thing that helps it make the most sense in my mind is that my particular work as a pastor is supposed to be an ongoing blessing in the individual lives and corporate life of our community.
Toward that end, I am learning that Sabbatical is about listening. It is listening to the quiet voices of streams, to the soft echoes of Benny's slow breathing as she sleeps and, I hope, to deep and slow whispers of God's life and Spirit.
Last night my good friend, Ian, reminded me that though so many people read the Bible as a kind of God Encyclopedia, the text itself is comprised of stories, songs, and letters. These kinds of writing are all about introductions. The biblical text is about sparking a curiosity, offering an invitation, sending a greeting. In other words, theology that comes to us in the Bible is about encounter. The stories in the Bible, like all good stories, are about introducing ourselves to figures, to characters, to persons. The Bible introduces us to ourselves and to God, but not by giving us a list of words that describe God. No, it gives us the chance to watch and listen to the unfolding story of people and God together over centuries and millennia. In church we get to watch and listen for what happens when the stories and journeys of people and God become intertwined.
And so my Sabbatical has involved a bunch of Bible reading. It has also been a time to read and study other books (see future posts) and to write. It has also been a time to remember old friends and places and activities that help me come alive. As brilliant African American pastor and theologian, Howard Thurman wrote: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
I'm hopeful and confident that all this rejuvenation and listening will have long-term consequences that benefit, not only me, as a person, but the whole PMC community. Sabbatical has been a time to reflect on the past three years and my own journey learning to be a pastor and to read and learn and move toward improvement and increased effectiveness. But it is also a time to remember what helps me come alive, believing that any good thing I can do at PMC will directly flow out of life and beauty that have rooted in my flesh and bone, heart and mind.
But perhaps the thing that helps it make the most sense in my mind is that my particular work as a pastor is supposed to be an ongoing blessing in the individual lives and corporate life of our community.
Toward that end, I am learning that Sabbatical is about listening. It is listening to the quiet voices of streams, to the soft echoes of Benny's slow breathing as she sleeps and, I hope, to deep and slow whispers of God's life and Spirit.
Last night my good friend, Ian, reminded me that though so many people read the Bible as a kind of God Encyclopedia, the text itself is comprised of stories, songs, and letters. These kinds of writing are all about introductions. The biblical text is about sparking a curiosity, offering an invitation, sending a greeting. In other words, theology that comes to us in the Bible is about encounter. The stories in the Bible, like all good stories, are about introducing ourselves to figures, to characters, to persons. The Bible introduces us to ourselves and to God, but not by giving us a list of words that describe God. No, it gives us the chance to watch and listen to the unfolding story of people and God together over centuries and millennia. In church we get to watch and listen for what happens when the stories and journeys of people and God become intertwined.
And so my Sabbatical has involved a bunch of Bible reading. It has also been a time to read and study other books (see future posts) and to write. It has also been a time to remember old friends and places and activities that help me come alive. As brilliant African American pastor and theologian, Howard Thurman wrote: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
I'm hopeful and confident that all this rejuvenation and listening will have long-term consequences that benefit, not only me, as a person, but the whole PMC community. Sabbatical has been a time to reflect on the past three years and my own journey learning to be a pastor and to read and learn and move toward improvement and increased effectiveness. But it is also a time to remember what helps me come alive, believing that any good thing I can do at PMC will directly flow out of life and beauty that have rooted in my flesh and bone, heart and mind.
And with that, here's Benny's new sleeping position. Awesome.
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